


Becca Barnes is a fantastic sister

by PerplexinglyParadoxialPerson



Series: The stories of the Captain America needs a hug hashtag [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Annoying Tony Stark, Becca Barnes loves her brothers, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Bucky Barnes Returns, M/M, Mother Hen Bucky Barnes, Podfic Welcome, Protective Bucky Barnes, Social Media, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Transformative Works Welcome, Troll Steve Rogers, Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22200799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerplexinglyParadoxialPerson/pseuds/PerplexinglyParadoxialPerson
Summary: Steve goes to visit Becca Barnes
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Rebecca Barnes Proctor, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Rebecca Barnes Proctor & Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson
Series: The stories of the Captain America needs a hug hashtag [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1466758
Comments: 7
Kudos: 166





	Becca Barnes is a fantastic sister

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Thank you all so much for your support for this story! I got so many kind comments asking me to write this, so I did. This took so long mostly because I spent way too much time editing it, but I hope you enjoy!

One thing that Sam hadn’t expected from his first mission with the Avengers, was how much of a jerk that Tony Stark could be. Here they were, on a Helicarrier with all the Avengers minus Thor, on their way back from a smoking ruin of a Hydra base, and Stark was rambling about how Steve “wasn’t any fun.”

Usually when Steve went to destroy a big enough Hydra base, he would call in the Avengers, and Sam would take some time off to see his family again and keep an eye on the news while Steve was busy. This time however, they had needed more air support, and Barnes had been quiet for a while, so Sam had come along.

They had all just piled into the Helicarrier, and Steve had started going through the information on Barnes again, barely stoping to take off his gloves. Sam had been about to try to convince him to stop to breathe, when Stark had butted in.

“Wow, just two minutes off a mission and you’re already planning another? You’ve done this every time, I knew I was right when I said that you have a stick up your ass! I bet you couldn’t have fun if your life depended on it!”

“I can have fun” Steve said stiffly, still staring at his phone.

The Captain America mask was strong today. Sam had probably seen the farthest under it, due to the search for Barnes and the desperation involved, but to almost everyone else, Steve was Captain America, stoic and always calm.

“You definitely aren’t having fun right now,” Tony said and grabbed the phone out of Steve’s hands, making Steve yelp. “I’m making you a tumblr account so you can learn how to. Let’s see, username, captainstickuphisass. Password, hedoesntknowhowtohavefun. There, signed up! Now look up something fun and distracting!”

“Really Tony?” Steve snapped, grabbing his phone back. “That isn’t necessary, and besides, I’m trying to track down an ally, a Hydra agent that was brainwashed into serving Hydra. He’s taken out a few small Hydra cells on his own, he could make a good ally.”

Tony rolls his eyes, “fine spoilsport.” The rest of the trip was spent in slightly awkward silence.

Once they were back in Steve’s apartment in New York, Steve asked, “what is tumblr?”

“It’s a social media site,” Sam replied. “You post anything you want, and other people can like it and comment on it. You can look up certain hashtags, like cute dogs, art, or even Captain America.”

“I may as well see what it’s all about,” Steve said, “as long as you don’t tell Tony.”

“Good idea,” Sam said. “You can also change your username and password if you want to. Let me show you how.”

A minute later, Steve’s username was StarsandStripes_not_StarsorStripes. Sam sighed, “there’s a stupid joke in there somewhere isn’t there. Don’t try to explain it to me, I’ve heard too many of your stupid jokes by now.”

Steve went back on his phone as Sam sat on the armchair. Things were only peaceful for a minute before something happened.

“Sam.” Steve said, sounding shaky, “oh my god, Sam!”

As Sam looked over in surprise, he saw that Steve’s face was even whiter than usual. He was shaking slightly and staring at his phone.

“Steve, what’s wrong?”

“Look” Steve said, handing his phone to Sam. “I... just look.”

Sam grabbed the phone and saw that Steve had looked up Bucky Barnes. The post that he had stopped on was surprising. It was apparently posted by a granddaughter of Becca Barnes, who he knew from Steve was Bucky’s sister. The contents were even more interesting, somehow they knew that Bucky was alive, and had seen a video of Hydra torturing him. The mention of the “Captain America needs a hug” hashtag was interesting as well.

He looked at Steve, who was still pale, but said “I... that last bit... god it’s definitely Becca. Stubbornly determined to keep us close and fiery as anything. Sound a bit like her ma too, determined to feed everyone with the family recipes, and definitely not impressed with us. God, I didn’t know she was still alive!”

“But how did she find out what they did to Barnes?” Sam questioned, tapping on the hashtag and starting to scroll through it.

“Yeah,” Steve said quietly, “she doesn’t deserve to see that.”

Unlike you, Sam thought, but didn’t say anything, that argument could wait for later. “From what I can see, someone hacked into that Hydra base in the abandoned bank, and recorded some of the security footage that we saw. They even figured that it was Bucky somehow, then posted it to the same hashtag as the post from Becca’s granddaughter.”

“So everyone knows that Bucky’s alive?”

“No” Sam replied, looking at the amount of notes. “I’m pretty sure that the posts in this hashtag aren’t very popular, but they do have a post from a grandchild of a Howling Commando who posted about the fact that you two were a couple before you got woken up. It’s only a small community that posts on that hashtag, but if it did hit the wider internet, it would be all everyone would talk about.” Sam passed the phone back to Steve and said, “the hashtag that connects all these posts is Captain America needs a hug.”

“Can... can I have some time?” Steve asked, “I just...”

“Sure,” Sam said, “I’ll give you all the time you need, but please consider visiting her at least.”

“I will,” Steve said, scrolling through his phone, as Sam headed out the door.

+-+

Jane was eating supper with her grandma when a knock came on the door of the brownstone. Grandma, who had been starting to clean up the kitchen, went to the door. The door opened and there was silence for a few seconds before the door closed, and grandma began to yell.

“Steven Grant Rogers! You are in so much trouble!” There was the sound of feet in the hall, and grandma appeared, hauling Steve by the collar of his shirt. She shoved him onto one of the kitchen chairs and said, “you stupid idiot punk! I can’t believe that you took this long to come and see me!”

“God Becca,” he said staring at her, “you’re actually alive.”

Grandma deflated slightly and said, “you thought I was dead? Who told you that?”

“Yeah” Steve said, “when I woke up they gave me files on everyone, told me whether they were dead or not. I didn’t get a file on you so I guess I just assumed that...”

“Oh Steve” grandma said, “why didn’t you tell me that you were Captain America in your letters though?”

“It was mostly classified” Steve said quietly. “At least for the Captain America tour. The only reason Bucky knew was because he found out. They wanted to make sure that no one could get leverage over their super soldier. Add that to how few letters we could risk getting to you? We didn’t want you to worry.”

Grandma grabbed a spatula and smacked him on the arm, making him yelp. “You idiot! Part of the reason I was so worried was because I thought you had convinced some doctor to let you in even with all your illnesses! I didn’t even find out that you were Captain America until about a month before you fought the aliens!”

“I know” Steve said, “I kind of... read all the posts on that hashtag and-“ he turned to Jane, “I’m so grateful that you posted that. I... I didn’t even consider that other people might find out that Bucky was the Winter Soldier.”

“The Winter Soldier?” Jane asked, confused.

“Oh, I guess I forgot,” Steve said. “That... that’s what he was called by the people who investigated what... what he did. I swear to you though, the chair in the video was destroyed. I ripped it to pieces myself. There are probably more but... if I ever do find more, I will destroy them.”

“Is he ok?” Grandma asked, “do you know where he is?”

Steve sighed and slumped a little, “I don’t know. I’ve been searching for him. Following a trail of destroyed Hydra bases, but... they called him a ghost for a reason. I’ll only get a hint of him once in a while, then he’ll disappear, he’s good at keeping out of sight.”

“Do you know if he remembers anything?” Jane asked, “because if he doesn’t have any memories...”

“He does,” Steve said sharply. “He... they made him protect the Helicarriers. We had to get into each one to replace a targeting chip, and I managed to hold him off long enough to get the chip in.”

“Was he trying to hurt you?” Grandma asked sharply.

“Yeah” Steve said heavily. “Then the Helicarriers began to fall apart. I pulled him out from under a beam that had trapped him and... I tried to remind him of who he was... he kept attacking me, but he could have killed me easily. He didn’t even come close. Then I said... something that we had told each other all the time and he stopped. Unfortunately right after that, the floor below me shattered and I fell into the river. He jumped after me, dragged me from the river and made sure I was alive before running off. At the very least he remembers me enough to protect me. It could be a lot worse.”

“Of course,” grandma said. “The two of you are so in love that fighting each other, and you saying something that you told each other, can break seventy years of brainwashing.”

“It wasn’t exactly seventy years,” Steve said. “They... they froze him between missions. Put him in storage like a gun in a safe. He usually only had one or two missions a year, but otherwise... he slept through the decades.”

“Like you,” Jane said. “Did he get the super serum too?”

“Yeah” Steve said. “He got it when he was captured the first time, it just... took a long time for it to be apparent. Becca... I’m so sorry. If I had just looked for him myself, didn’t go down with that stupid plane...”

“Your as self sacrificing as ever,” grandma said. I may not know the exact circumstances, but I know that if you loved Bucky even half as much as I thought you did, then I know you did your very best for him. You didn’t know that it was even a possibility that he would be alive, so of course you didn’t search for him! It isn’t your fault.”

Jane was in awe of the image, her relatively frail grandma, scolding Captain America, who looked like a kicked puppy, but more sheepish.

“But,” he said sharply, “if I hadn’t been going crazy, they wouldn’t have sent the Russian team to look for him! They took him and gave me his dog tags. If I had just searched for him on my own-“

“And at the time the Russians were your allies.” Grandma said sharply, “if they gave you his dog tags and told you he was dead, you wouldn’t have any reason to disbelieve them, and you had no clue that he could be alive!”

“I’m a super soldier and had known him better than anyone in the field,” Steve said. “If anyone should have been able to tell that he was a super soldier it would be me!”

“Oh Steve,” grandma said softly. “You really are determined to blame yourself. You should know that I don’t blame you at all, I promise.”

“I don’t either,” Jane said firmly. “It might not be the biggest encouragement, but I promise, neither me, or anyone I have talked to would ever blame you for that.”

Grandma sat next to him as he choked out, “I guess the Barnes stubbornness is alive and well.”

Grandma opened her arms and said “I feel like you could use a hug.”

Steve stared for a second, then collapsed into her arms and began to cry. Jane awkwardly snuck into the kitchen, deciding to clean up during this obviously private moment. Eventually grandma and Steve had moved to the couch in the living room, Steve now reduced to soft hiccuping sobs and whispered words. Jane grabbed a box of Kleenexes and several double chocolate cookies, bringing them to the living room. Steve was curled up as small as he could get, leaning into grandmas shoulder, face red and blotchy.

“Here” she said, passing him the things and sitting down. “I thought that you could use a little pick me up.” As if on cue, his stomach growled loudly.

“Sorry” he said, blushing as he blew his nose. “My metabolism is pretty crazy, I don’t want to eat you out of house and home.”

Grandma huffed, “it isn’t the depression anymore Steve. I can afford to buy a lot more than I can eat. And besides, it will be a good thing, I could really stand to eat a lot less of those. How much do you need to eat normally?”

“Well” Steve said sheepishly, starting in on the cookies. “If I’m resting a lot, not doing much, I eat about three times what a normal person eats. But if I’m healing from something big, or I do a lot of activity, than about four times.”

“Three to four times what normal people need to eat?” Jane said, “that’s like seventy-five hundred, to ten thousand calories a day! Is it just calories, or do you need more of other nutrients as well?”

“I don’t think so,” Steve said. “I mean, I know I need more protein and iron when I’m healing from something major, but I think I just need the calories. This body needs a lot of energy to function.”

“Well while your here,” grandma said, “you will not go hungry. I have some leftover beef and barley soup in the fridge, you can warm that up, and you can eat as many of those cookies as you want.”

“God Becca,” Steve said teasingly. “You sound like your ma!”

“Like Bucky didn’t do that and more” grandma said. “I heard what he said when he fussed over you when you were sick!”

“Well yeah,” Steve said. “That’s true. He fussed over me so much that the Howlies would call him mother bear Barnes sometimes!”

“So he never grew out of the habit of protecting you,” grandma said, smiling softly.

“Definitely not,” Steve said wistfully. “He was always telling me to eat or he would shove it down my throat. Sometimes he’d give me a lecture on how the serum didn’t make me immortal, except for maybe my stupidity.”

“That definitely sounds like Bucky,” grandma said mischievously. “And in the words of the man himself, go grab some damn soup before you faint on me!”

Steve laughed sadly, but got up to get a bowl. The rest of the evening went well, filled with stories and laughter, inside jokes and knowing looks.

When it came time for Steve to go, Jane couldn’t help but ask. “Could I post about this visit or not? If you tell me not to, I promise that I won’t post anything about it, but I do want to.”

Steve stopped putting on his coat for a second, a thoughtful look on his face. “If someone asks you can say that it happened, but please don’t mention anything about what we talked about ok?”

“Of course,” Jane said. “But if you want to talk, you can always send me a direct message on tumblr. I guess you already know my username, but can I get yours?”

“Sure” Steve said, scribbling on a notebook from his pocket and ripping the page out.

“It’s StarsandStripes_not_StarsorStripes? Please tell me that it’s a reference to that post about liking both guys and girls.”

“Yeah” Steve said with a sheepish smile. “I saw it one day and it just fit, so I figured that it would make a good username that no one would guess!”

Jane laughed and gave him a high five. “Good to know you have a sense of humour! Talk with you soon?”

“Of course,” Steve said as he headed out the door and into the night.

+-+

He could see everything through the windows. Luckily they had stayed in the kitchen and living room. Large windows and good vantage points nearby were ideal for a stakeout. If he-Bucky-he reminded himself-Bucky Barnes-had known these people well enough that they had invited the Winter Soldier into their house... than maybe he could find out more information about Bucky from them.

He had looked up Bucky Barnes, and when he had found that hashtag he had known that something about it was... just right somehow. The museum had had data, obviously factual, but the whole place had felt wrong somehow, had made him angry. All those stories in the hashtag though... they had stories that were just the right amount of stupid for Steve to have actually done them.

The theory that Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers had been in a relationship felt right, and matched up with the few fragments of memory that he had of Steve. The quoted words from Bucky Barnes’ sister had struck a chord.

The door of the brownstone opened, a halo of light around... Steve. It had to be him. The broad shoulders, the tiny waist, the blatant disregard for possible snipers... he had even looked up at him as the door had closed.

Then, stupidly, he had looked down and walked away, his back to him. There was a sudden surge of frustration. That stubborn little shit had just... turned his back on a sniper! Assuming that he was on his side!

This was the Steve of his memories, no doubt about it. He climbed off the roof of the house next door and began to walk down the street.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is the official beginning of any non-canonness, it won’t arrive in the main story for a while, but it will come!
> 
> By the way, I’m not trying to hate on Tony, he’s trying to help Steve... in his own, annoying way. Like how Natasha was determined to get Steve a date, he’s doing it for the right reasons, but his execution is a little underwhelming. 
> 
> At this point in time, Bucky has gotten rid of the most immediate programming he’s under, but he’s having a hard time being a person, partially because he has no clue who Bucky Barnes was, and most info on the web doesn’t feel right. (Him and Steve not officially being a couple etc.) He doesn’t call himself anything really, because he’s kind of on the edge at the moment. He’s not an asset, he’s a person, but he isn’t Bucky yet either. If you have any questions please ask them!
> 
> Note:this story has the closest thing to a non-outsider point of view in this entire series, from this point forwards there will almost certainly not be any POV’s of an Avenger, (except for maybe some really outsider Avengers, like maybe Ant-Man or Captain Marvel.) The ending is really abrupt, because that’s the whole point of this series, the civilians don’t get the whole picture, they see things and analyze them, but they definitely don’t get everything. I didn’t want to “spoil” the series in any way.


End file.
